The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1887-08-26
AQUATIC srRssr uRcAlNs.
Little ArabA who Enjoy Themselves I'm
tho Eivcr-Dcfying Policemen.

Before the ice is out of the, river the
talk begins among the boys Of this town.
as to who shall be ''the first irn" Any
body who has not been boy himself will
not, of course, understand what it is to,
be ''the first in" 1t means ths.first boy
TO take q swim in the waters Of the North
or East river. BY the middle Of April,
anyway, some boy has laid the fOunda-
ton for Rheumatism by taking header
off dock. He may not have stayed in
long but he has achieved a feat as great
as dropping off the Brooklyn bridge.
The first swim, being only for distinc--
ton, Is not of long duration. IL the boy
''goesi UNDER" or in other. words SUBJ
merges himself entirely from the crown
of his head to the soles of hisfeet- he has
taken tho belt for the season. About
twelve seconds is enough for him to go to
the bottom, clutch handfuli of mud and
come to- the surface. When his head pops
up out of water he blows like porpoise,
and makes straightway for the string
piece of tho dock. He pulls, himself out
and reserves his exhibition of endurance
under tho water or OH the surface.of the
water for time when it does not seem
as if he had dropped into the. tank OF the
Business Mems Moderation society in
front Of the post Office, which, is, loaded
up with ice every morning in order to
give a wintry taste to the Croton that
runs out of the faucets during the day.
He Is as blue as milestone, bis, teeth
rattle like loose easement in the wind,
and the cloth trunk, if he has taken the
trouble to put one ON, feels, in thecutting
,,, Il %f -. Ia
loins. AS soon, however, as he has got
his clothes on and run up and down the
dock n few times to set his blood in cir
culation, he feels like a young Comanche
brave who has lifted hair for the first
time. He goes down on the river front,
around the Battery and up the other, to
let every boy who is perched ON n scrub
bling post know that he is the earliest
ablutionist.
There are number of free baths sta
toned along the river front. but the wa
ter just outside of them feels different to
any boy from that inside Of them. 1t is
contrary to the city ordinances for any
boy, or anybody else for that matter, to
go in swimming in the vicinity of any
dock where passengers embark or disem-
bark. 1t is also contrary to the city ordi-
nances for anybody to go into the water
ut any point improperly dressed, and as
there can be no change from bathing to
street attire without transcending the reg
ulation, ut least for moment, swimming
in any event puts the swimmer under the
ban OF the police. The same spirit that
animates the bald headed, red headed OF
any other headed eagle to fly high and
roost out OF the way OF buckshot--the
desire for freedom and immunity from
Canger-animates the small boy in keep
ing out Of tho reach of tho blue coated
and brass buttoncd minions of the law
when sporting in forbidden water. It is
ono OF tho greatest problems that po-
iceman ever tried to solve to catch
small boy in tho water when the water is
SO warm that tho boy can stay in it with
cut the danger of the blood congealing in
his veins and thus filing his system with
icicles.
At this season of tho year the young
wator dogs can float in the water all day,
which is good deal longer than police
man can stay on watch. The boys have
to so to tho open piers to reach the water
tho hands on tho covered piers refusing
TO havo them around. They slide down
tho big piles and get on the stringpieces
underneath, where ihoy proceed to dis
robc. A policeman might think he would
havc tho swimmers ct his mercy if he
could co. under tho pier and obtain pos
session Of their clothes. He might he
cb!o to get under tho pier, but no would
find obtaining possession Of tho clothes a
different thing. Ho would be about as
ablo to work tho combination Of hank
lock 90 TO End tho clothes. The boys
know that to Lang their clothes out in I
plain sighss ON tho beams would DO to in
vito appropriation by tho police CT larceny
by tho tramps. There arc hiding places
under the piers such C only boys arc CO.
pable Of finding out. Holes are formed
by the woodwork built on the piles and
the boys discover them by crool.ing their
arms around posts and timbers. Then
they dig out the decaycd spots in the piles
and poke their clothes down in the aper-
lures, covering them with dirt and rub
bish.
Tho boys go swimming in covcys, and
tho moro there arc of them the moro de-
flant they are to tho police. A guardian
of tho peace may hang loweringly over
the end Of tho pier and shake his club at
n dozen boys in the watcr without cx-
citing moro than dcrision from them.
They viii put their thumbs to their
noses, wrigglc their fingers in tho air and
then execute somersault in tic water
and disappear toward the bottom. Tho
newsboys and bootblacks are the most
persistent swimmers. They live around
tho docks in summer when they arc not
selling papers and polishing leather.
They know al tho avenues of escape and
the police find them as slippery os eels
The good little boys WHO run away
from Sunday school and from day school,
too, are tho ones most cpt to be visited by
Just retfibution in the shape Of police
mans awful grasp. II is n powerful
enigma to them how tho bad boys, who
spend their pennies for cigarettes instead
OF putting them on the collection plate,
escape.-New York World.
After tho Battle.